Roger McClure Dunwell's Obituary
Roger Dunwell (3/24/1944-2/29/2012)
Born in Washington DC to Stephen Warner Dunwell and Julia McClure Dunwell, Roger grew up in Poughkeepsie NY, attending the Spackenkill Schools, Oakwood Friends School, Harvard University and NYU Law School. By their example and through many projects at home and in the community, his parents raised him to love music, art and science and to care for people in need. He was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and performed his alternative service as a Robert F. Kennedy Fellow in Texas supporting the rights of farm workers to receive food stamps, a case that was won. Cesar Chavez, who was a working with migrant farm workers in California at the time, was engaged with the Texas organizing as well. Migrant farm workers had fewer rights then.
In 1965, he married his high school sweetheart, Ariel Assad, of Petion-Ville Haiti. They had two beautiful daughters, Cassandra and Melissa. After his service in Texas, they moved to Haiti, he became proficient in Creole and began to work for CARE, providing food and medical supplies to people in the provinces. Roger and Ariel returned to Poughkeepsie when their children entered grade school, and he joined the law practice of McKennan and Coulter, eventually becoming a partner in the firm. They returned to Haiti in 1981 to help manage his wife’s family business, the Hotel Villa Creole. During his years in Haiti, he lived through dictatorships, free elections, military occupations, and international embargoes, all of which made running a hotel very challenging. However, he always managed to keep the generators running, the water flowing and the hotel guests fed. The hotel roof was used for broadcasts by CBS news anchor Dan Rather, and the conference rooms hosted diplomatic meetings with Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell, Hillary and Bill Clinton and many others.
Roger, his wife and her family decorated the hotel with works of art by leading Haitian sculptors, painters and craftsmen. His family also supported local schools, orphanages and humanitarian organizations, such as Project Medishare and the work of Father Rick Frechette at Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs. Roger and Ariel later moved to Miami Florida in 2001 after she contracted cancer. He was a devoted husband and caregiver during a long illness. During this time, they reconnected with their spirituality and faith and joined the Coral Gables Congregational Church. After Ariel’s passing, he himself was diagnosed with cancer. In 2006, he married Laura Kefalidis, whose spirituality, generosity and optimistic world-view he deeply admired. Laura put him on a regimen of healthy foods, dancing and love, which sustained his life far beyond expectations. He also received top medical care from Sylvester Cancer Center and later VITAS hospice.
In his youth, Roger was an accomplished black and white photographer and guitar player. His interest in the arts and in particular photography remained strong throughout his life. He also loved the outdoors and the tropics: botanical gardens and the Everglades. He loved Gary Larson cartoons, played a good game of tennis, and read voraciously. Favorite books included Moby Dick, by Herman Melville The Power of Now by Eckard Tolle, His choice in literature became more introspective during the latter part of his life. He really liked The Open Road by Pico Iyer and Loving Kindness-The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzburg. He also developed a passion for Rumi’s poetry specifically The Rumi Collections edited by Kabir Helminski. He had always wanted to visit Turkey and visit Rumi’s grave. He introduced his nephew Davis and niece Lia to his favorite music, including the classical guitar music of Sandy Bull and the gospel songs of the Campbell Brothers, whose arrangement of “Amazing Grace” he favored, and whose song “Don’t Let the Devil Ride” kept him energized. Looking back, his time at Oakwood Friends School proved very influential for his life, introducing him to Quaker principles, and setting the stage for his marriage to Ariel Assad and their future in Haiti. He returned to Oakwood regularly for alumni reunions and sustained close friendships from that period of his life.
A man of few words, he enjoyed the devoted friendship of many people. He listened more than he spoke; he accepted more than he judged; and he left many things open to interpretation. Of his own life, he reflected that he enjoyed many blessings.
He is survived by his wife Laura Kefalidis, step-daughter Roulitza, his daughters Cassandra Dunwell and Melissa Padberg, her husband Robin Padberg, and three grandchildren Sasha, Ivo and Max; his sister Frances Dunwell and her husband Wesley Natzle, and their children Davis and Lia; brother Steve and his wife Angela K. Dunwell and daughter Amanda Brown and her husband Jason Brown; his sister-in-law Alicia Bigio and her husband, their children Chloe and David; and many cousins.
His family wishes to express their gratitude to the medical staff of Sylvester Cancer Center who cared for Roger, Vitas hospice care and the Cancer Support Community of Miami.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Roger’s honor may be made to Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs (www.nph-haiti.org), Hope for Haiti (www.hopeforhaiti.com), Project Medishare (www.projectmedishare.org), Cancer Support Community Center (www.cancersupportcommunitymiami.org) or IFA (www.ifarelief.org).
Memorial Services will be held at 3:30pm March 24, 2012 Coral Gables Congregational Church, 3010 DeSoto Boulevard, Coral Gables, Florida 33134. Phone: 305.448.7421 www.coralgablescongregational.org. There will also be a service at the Hotel Villa Creole in Petion-Ville, Haiti on March 28th at 4pm.
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